MARYSVILLE, Wash. -- Two men arrested in Missouri in the slaying of a 73-year-old Marysville, Wash., grandmother have been returned to Washington and charges against them have been upgraded to first-degree murder.

The men were booked Tuesday into the Snohomish County Jail, with bail set at $1 million each.

They were arrested last week in Eagleville, Mo., just south of the Iowa border, driving victim Shirley Sweeton's car. Prosecutors allege they fatally bludgeoned the woman with a hammer June 5 while robbing her home.

According to the statement of probable cause, Miller admitted to the gruesome crime at the time of the arrest.

"We did something we should not have done...We killed someone, an old lady. He hit her with a hammer seven or eight times and I hit her twice...We were on heroin," Miller said, according to the document.

The pair told detectives they'd gotten rid of the hammer while driving on Highway 2.

The statement said Gilliam sometimes stayed at Sweeton's home in the past while he was dating her granddaughter, who often stayed with Sweeton. The couple used heroin together and Gilliam has a history of fraudulently using Sweeton's credit cards and taking her car without permission, prosecutors said.

By June, the two had broken up, according to the document. Sweeton's granddaughter had moved into a group home and Gilliam was living at the Mission in Everett, where Miller was also staying. Both Gilliam and his ex-girlfriend are patients of Compass Health.

Gilliam, an unregistered child molester with two felonies, is on community custody for heroin possession and for failing to register as a sex offender. He has an escape warrant pending.

Miller has 13 misdemeanor convictions - six adult and seven juvenile - including theft and assault.

~Jeanine

You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

The one on the right looks loopy and the one on the lef looks brainless.

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
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"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07